Are cook books reliable and consistent or poorly written/edited coffee table books? Alf records cooking results as he tries out new recipes.

Monday, 23 December 2013

Apple Ravioli with Fava-Pistachio Pesto

From Pasta
Modern, Francine Segan, Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2013.

When the author makes the statement to the
effect that if you were to try no other recipe in a particular chapter then
this was the one that you should try then obviously this is the one you would
make—and I did. The only problem with this is that unless you make all the
others in the chapter you have nothing to compare it with. It was good and it
was different but now, I guess, I’ll have to try all the others.

I did not follow the recipe for the pasta as
I had some left from a previous cooking bout that I had not used up.

The filling for the ravioli was made first. I
peeled and chopped 3 granny smith apples and cooked them in a saucepan with
some butter and 5 chopped sage leaves. Wben the apple was cooked though had not
broken up to a puree I took it off the heat and left it to cool.

I made the pesto. Rather than just a basil
pesto this one had a broad bean (fava) base. I cooked a cup of broad beans for
a couple of minutes. They were then cooled and the beans popped out of their
skins. They went into a blender with 30 basil leaves, a handful of pistachios,
a handful of pine nuts and salt and pepper. They were blended until beginning
to form a paste, then olive oil was blended in until there was a sauce that I
felt comfortable with.

The pasta was rolled out and cut into 10cm
rounds. In half of them a tablespoon of the apples was placed in the centre.
This was topped with a tablespoon of cubed fontina (the recipe called for
taleggio but this was unavailable). A little drizzle of honey topped the
mixture. Another round of pasta closed off the ravioli and the edges were
sealed with white of an egg.

The ravioli were cooked in boiling salted water until done
and then served with the pesto.

This was a most unusual combination of
flavours that were a pleasant surprise. The tartness of the apples,
overlaid with the touch of sage, went well with the cheese. The pesto was
really good. The broad beans gave it that extra difference, a solidness, and it matched the tart apples surprisingly well.